My M1 Mac mini will regularly drop its network connection overnight

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Level 1

13 points

My M1 Mac mini will regularly drop its network connection overnight

The computer remains on 24/7, it is connected via wired ethernet (1Gb direct to the Mac mini - not a dock) and wifi via eero routers. Everything works again after a reboot. The network wiring in the house is unchanged in years. The M1 Mac mini is the only computer (out of many in the house) that I'm aware of dropping its network connection on a regular basis.

Yes, I've set IPv6 to Link-local Only. Yes, a VPN is installed to connect to my work network, but it is not active/being used when this happens. All apps lose connectivity. I've been running NetworkQuality in Terminal to check the connection during the day (lots of video streaming meetings) and it also fails when I lose connectivity (not just Teams, or a browser, or...)

It's currently running Monterey 12.4, but this has been happening on and off for months... though I'm not positive if goes back to when I first bought it over a year ago, or with v12.0 or...

It loses connectivity overnight, most nights, but not every night.

I'm happy to provide more information that might help solve this...

Mac mini, macOS 12.4

Posted on May 20, 2022 9:38 AM

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Answer 1

hcsitas

Level 6

13,964 points

May 20, 2022 11:10 AM in response to Steve Traut

Snapshot of Energy Saver Preferences please. How long’s the cable - mini to router house wiring inclusive? Any switches in between?

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Answer 2

hcsitas

Level 6

13,964 points

May 23, 2022 8:55 AM in response to Steve Traut

Yes, sorry, uncheck “Wake”, should fix. It’s not a workaround, Sleep’s unnecessary on later Macs. Good luck!

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Answer 3

hcsitas

Level 6

13,964 points

May 20, 2022 8:47 PM in response to Steve Traut

Try unchecking “Wait”. If that doesn’t fix, use a 2/4 port Gigabit switch between the wall and the mini like this one https://us.dlink.com/en/products/dgs-1005p-5-port-gigabit-desktop-switch-with-4-poe-ports. Avoid Netgear, their Gigabit switches aren’t up to snuff.

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Answer 4

Steve Traut Author

Level 1

13 points

May 20, 2022 2:56 PM in response to hcsitas

30' total of ethernet wiring between the Mac mini and the switch, and a 24 port Cisco 1Gb unmanaged switch is the core of the wired network for the house. Below are the power settings (there are no scheduled events)

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Answer 5

Steve Traut Author

Level 1

13 points

May 23, 2022 8:53 AM in response to hcsitas

By unchecking "wait", I assume you mean "wake"... I'll give that a try, but past that I'm not interested in adding gear to create a workaround for something that should just work. I'll turn it into an Apple Support ticket and see what happens there. I'm mostly checking here to see if there are known issues, I possibly missed something easy/obvious, and so on.

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My M1 Mac mini will regularly drop its network connection overnight

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